Almost 1300 metres above sea level in the San Ramon region of Costa Rica, coffee farmer Edgar Fernandez bats a sweet lemon down from a tree with a stick and peels it open.

A light mist rolls in over the slumbering volcano his farm perches on as his two dogs weave through coffee trees pregnant with ripe red "cherries" ready to be harvested.

A stream runs through the four-hectare property and toucans peek out from the fruit trees that shade his valuable crop. To call it an idyllic example of the success of sustainable farming principles would be an understatement. But it hasn't always been this way.

Coffee drinkers rarely consider the farmers nurturing the source of their caffeine hit when they are stirred awake by the mechanical grind of a Nespresso machine. The daily ritual has become so intuitive and convenient it is easy to forget there are thousands of people and man hours behind each brightly coloured coffee pod.